Taylor Swift a Hit in Omaha

I went to opening night of Taylor Swift's 'The Red Tour' in Omaha Wednesday night. Sort of. I actually had secured a couple tickets through my brother Carl who lives in Presho, who had secured tickets for his daughter Caryn and a couple of friends. Two tickets. One son, 'Tad,' who had been bugging me to go see Taylor Swift for years. Oh, Tad invited a friend, 'Noah,' so I was the chauffeur.

Don't get me wrong, I was glad to do it. Take one for the team so to speak. But it did open my eyes and ears to some interesting things. Here they are.

#1 When Taylor Swift goes on tour, it's not with a van from United Rental and an old school bus. She has a fleet of trucks that go where she goes. She has a fleet of buses for her workers and staff. That old saying, go big or go home? Fits.

#2 The demographic of hard core fans? Quite young. When we stopped by 'The Mattress Factory,' for a bite to eat before the show, we quickly walked out. It was packed. So we walked down the street to another pizza place that was filling up rapidly. All you had to do was say, 'there's either a Taylor Swift show in town tonight or a junior high dance. That's not a slam. It's just pretty true.

#3 They love her. Posters. All dressed up, and moms and dads parading their kids around like they had just scored the winning touchdown in the Superbowl. Hey, I'm sure they'd been talking about taking 'their kids,' to see Taylor Swift to their friends all week long. If you're a parent you want to make your kids happy. Your happy when your kids are happy. There were some happy parents!

#4 Taylor Swift is smart. Yes, she's beautiful and talented but she is either genius or has some big brains working for her because the marketing machine behind her is spot on. Take a look at the glasses Taylor is wearing in the picture on the tee shirt. Guess what half the young girls were wearing when they came out from the show. Yep!

There's been a lot of talk about Taylor. Some bashing. I get that. People that can't, criticize. Period. If you think she can't sing I ask, do you have an 8 year old who's sang the Star Spangled Banner at a professional basketball game? Do you have a son or daughter who can write music that sells millions? And do you have a son or daughter that could buy the county you're living in? Probably not.

We know that Taylor Swifts music isn't for everyone, but for the ones that it's important to it's big. Real Big. I say if you can touch the young girls and moms, you're off and running. And she is!

Oh, and Taylor, it's hard to impress a 17 year old boy as a dad. With your help, I did.